Bind and Seal

After a weekend spent binding quilts, 

the final step was my version of the poor gal’s vacuum seal - 

stuff ‘em in a zip-lock bag, sit on it to squish out the air and zip it closed. Easy peasy. 

I accidentally discovered that 2 lines of stitching when attaching the binding makes the glueing and folding go soooo much faster. Fast enough to make it worthwhile? Probably not … but it was interesting. 

Glue, fold, clip, iron, repeat.

(Why no, I was not going to rip out that first row of stitching that was too close to the edge . . . And yes, I am lazy like that. 😂)

I also switched out stitch-in-the-ditch for a serpentine stitch. So much quicker, easier and prettier. My new go-to . . . until I get bored and try something new. . . 

Loser

I played binding chicken and lost. 

Sooooooo close…

Happy 8!

Happy birthday to Jaclyn, who turned 8 today. Whoo!

We started celebrating yesterday. 

First was art camp with Donovan, making sea scenes in clay. 

 

Check out their pelicans! It’s incredible what they make in class. 

Next up was Jac and Leo’s first trip to Dave & Buster’s 

(Donovan has been several times with his dad). 

The games were a big hit, 

especially the duck claw machine*, 

Happy teens - Leo and friend

and the food was *much* better than Chuck E Cheese. 

Happy Jac - the big girls agreed to play Hungry Hippo with her!

Jac thought it was too noisy, 

and the machines were aimed at slightly older kids/teens,

so we may go back to the mouse house next time. 

Today was CAKE and Legos. Jac got to pick the cake herself from the local grocery store. Anyone surprised she chose the most chocolatey thing she could find?? I offered to make it, but she decided my decorating skills were not up to her standards. 😂

 

Donovan finished his Lego project and offered to build Jac’s new Minecraft Fox House. Offer accepted! 

Recycling lidded Aurefil thread holders for Lego sorting & storage. My idea is genius!

Donovan says, “I am the Lego Master” and he’s right - he can build a 200 piece kit in under an hour. And he’s only 6!

* Jac won the first duck and talked Donovan into giving the claw a go. D wanted a gold sparkly duck… but after 3 or 4 tries, ended up with a red one. ☹️  Jac says hold my beer, er “Let me try!” and in one drop snags the golden sparkles for Donovan. Such happiness! We have enough on the prepaid card for D to have one…more…try… and he immediately drops and grabs the blue sparkly duck he was aiming for! Amazing!! It was all they talked about the rest of the afternoon. 😂😂

Swimming Lessons

How it started:

How it’s going:

Photos by Jaclyn

Hooray for Donovan, who, after a week, still doesn’t really want to move away from the safety of the stairs, but is now willing to put his head all the way under water and dog-paddle with the instructor’s help. (Instructor is doing this with all the kids.)

Standing on the sidelines, cheering for Donovan.

And Jac… not willing to do anything the first week but sit on the stairs and say “no”. We didn’t even try getting her in the water today. Disappointing but not unexpected.

We have 2 lessons left for Donovan. I got him a Lego set, that he really really wants, and the deal is if he floats on his back around the class area (with the teacher’s help, like the rest of the class is doing), he really really gets it. Crossing fingers…Added: He did it!! So proud of himself and immediately asked when he was getting his Legos. 😂 Legos - the great motivator!

Pretty Puppies

It took me longer to figure out what design I wanted for this puppy panel

than it took me to make the entire quilt. 

The panel has been hanging around the stash for a long time - I don’t remember when or where I bought it. 

The backing fabric is a remnant from Quilt Ventura, which closed its doors 9? 10? years ago. In fact, everything in this project, except the ABC’s, is from my stash. 

My design wall is crooked, not the quilt. Honest!

Earlier this week, I thought about clearing out the older fabric from the bins upstairs and donating it somewhere… but then I find exactly what I need for yet another project. Looks like the stash is safe once again …

Cactus Camp & Mud Baths

 Day 2 of art camp was another big hit. 

Jac and Donovan were thrilled with their cacti. 

Pretty cool, huh? So glad we found Art Trek - and they offer adult classes!

In the afternoon, J & D decided to make a mud bath for our resident lizards.

A little digging,

a bit of water

and voilá- 

our own personal lizard spa.

I’m sure the lizards were duly impressed. (As was Pop when he saw the mess “enhancements” afterward…)

Lily Kitty

We said goodbye to Lily on Thursday. 

She had stopped eating over the weekend and grown steadily weaker. The vet said the culprit was probably liver disease. 

I’m going to miss her so much. 

For the past 14 years, she’s been my buddy, 

Even in the (dry) bathtub…

following me from room to room, always wanting to be close to me. 

If I was sewing, she was beside the machine. 

 

Cutting fabric? She was on the table, usually with her tail twitching around the rotary cutter.

Ironing? 

Trimming a pattern? 

She was on it! Literally.

The only thing she liked better than sleeping on my lap 

was sleeping on a quilt on my lap. 

Lily came to live with us in December 2009, when Gary and his then girlfriend brought her to the house, “just until she (the girlfriend) gets a new apartment. Next week. Two weeks max. Honest, Mom!”  

As soon as they left, Marie and I brought the little grey, 7-toed, bundle of fluff downstairs and she never went back.

Lily was not fond of loud noises, little kids and most people. 

Lily liked hanging out with Cyrus

She ran from hubby, even after he started treating her to bites of tuna. 

When she was younger, she terrorized the older cats, jumping out of hiding to ‘attack’ them,

and she enjoyed chasing yarn balls and would bring them back so I’d throw them again.

She loved sleeping as close as she could get to my craft room heater 

and had her own heating pad in our bedroom, covered with fleece blankets, to keep her old lady bones comfy. 

Lil Pill mellowed a bit this last year 

and would occasionally tolerate the grandkids petting her, which Jac and Donovan, especially, loved.

I know letting her go was the right thing to do 

but d*mn it, I’m going to really miss my sweet girl.